Almost five months after Fidelity National Information Services Inc. announced plans to spin off its Worldpay unit as a separate company, two reports from financial news outlets say FIS is nearing a sale of the business.
The Financial Times reported July 1 that several private equity firms were considering buying the merchant payments technology business and Reuters reported July 3 that Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR LLC is in “advanced talks” to buy a majority stake in Worldpay.
Jacksonville-based banking technology company FIS acquired Worldpay for $43 billion in 2019 to expand its operations, but the Worldpay business has produced disappointing results.
FIS announced in February it would spin off Worldpay as a separate public company. At an investor conference June 12, CEO Stephanie Ferris said the spinoff was on track to be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
Ferris was chief financial officer of Worldpay before the acquisition and was promoted to chief executive of FIS in December.
Reuters, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the GTCR deal would value Worldpay between $15 billion and $20 billion.
It said FIS would retain a minority stake in Worldpay.
FIS’ stock rose $3.30 to $58 on July 3 after the Financial Times report, but the stock remains far below its 52-week high of $105.16.
The Reuters report came after the market closed July 3.
FIS opened a new 12-story headquarters building in October at 347 Riverside Ave. on Jacksonville’s Northbank.
The company promised to add 500 jobs to the 1,216 workers it had in Jacksonville when it started the headquarters project.
When the building opened, FIS said it was 75% of the way toward meeting that goal.
A sale of Worldpay would leave FIS with its core banking technology business and another division that focuses on capital markets technology.